An Australian newspaper has defended its cartoon of Serena Williams by republishing it on its front page under the headline "Welcome to PC world."
The Herald Sun responded to critics
after publishing the drawing, writing: "If the self-appointed censors of Mark Knight get their way on his Serena Williams cartoon, our new politically correct life will be very dull indeed."
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The Herald Sun's front page[/caption]
During the US Open final Williams, the greatest female tennis player of all time, descended into fury, accusing umpire Carlos Ramos of treating men less harshly for their on court conduct.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner
Instead, Williams was penalised by Ramos for three code violations during her 6-2, 6-4 loss to Japan's Naomi Osaka on Saturday: one for getting coaching signals; one for breaking her racket, which cost her a point; and one for calling the chair umpire a thief, which cost her a game.
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Williams was docked a point for smashing her racket (Credit: Julian Finney)[/caption]
"I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things," Williams said in the post-match press conference. "I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff. For me to say ‘thief,’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He’s never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief’.
"For me, it blows my mind, but I’m going to continue to fight for women."
Williams was
fined $17,000 for her reaction to the penalties.
In the cartoon, the umpire asks Osaka: "Can you just let her win?"
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Mark Knight has since deleted his social media accounts[/caption]
JK Rowling is among those who criticised the drawing by Mark Knight but the paper has doubled-down.
Damon Johnston, the Herald Sun editor, said the cartoon "rightly mocks poor behaviour by a tennis legend" and that "Mr Knight has the full support of everyone [at the paper]."
Knight told the Herald Sun: "The cartoon was just about Serena on the day having a tantrum.
"A few days beforehand I had actually drawn a cartoon of Australian Nick Kyrgios and his bad behaviour at the US Open, so I'm not targeting [Williams]. Serena is a champion."
